1. Why does every community in Maine need:
A tax assessor
Code enforcement officer
Animal control officer/ dog catcher
Police dept
Fire dept
EMS
Public works dept
Finance dept
Dispatch
Tax maps
Payroll person
Purchasing agent/ dept
Town manager
School dept
Road crew
Plowing
IT dept
HR
Legal
Paver procurement
Separate oil, gas, lights, energy purchasing
Insurance plan
Why do we need 489 municipalities, and 16 counties?
Mass. has three times our population and 220 something municipalities
Manatee County Fl has ONE school district with a population of 1.25 million people. The
argument could be made that is an old population, but MAINE has the oldest population in the
country.
A Cumberland County study showed taxpayers could save well over ONE MILLION DOLLARS per
year with a combined assessing department
Penobscot County and Bangor are in discussions about combing assessing
A public works director recently told a Legis comm. That according to national studies, he has
enough people and equipment to not only handle his town, but the SEVEN TOWNS surrounding
him
In Cumberland County, combined dispatch has saved taxpayers well in excess of two million
dollars over the past five years, with much more potential.
Outside of New England counties provide combined regional services, saving millions of dollars
annually compared to municipal based services
Need to maintain the community culture, but provide regional services

2. Can combine services amongst counties, Cumberland and York are meeting soon for just that
discussion, other counties do that to some degree
Would need to create a new county song
Would not have as many “star” players on town school sports teams
Other?